A group called the Institute for the Future – what a name, right? – is smart enough to know that it can't actually predict what will happen in 2021. But the group can use our existing knowledge of science to pose interesting "what-if?" questions about where advances in science and technology will take us in the next 10 years, which really is an eternity when it comes to these topics.

That's the real point behind the group's new super-visual report, called "The Future of Science: 2011," (PDF) which you can see above and view in more detail on the IFTF website (you have to really zoom in to read all of it). This may sound like it's coming out of a cheesy "Star Trek" episode, but by questioning what the future can be, we can help shape what it will be, the group says.

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